Skip to main content

Insights Into the Structure of the Mitochondrial Channel, VDAC, Provided by Electron Microscopy

  • Conference paper
Molecular Biology of Mitochondrial Transport Systems

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIH,volume 83))

Abstract

It has been ten years since publication of the finding that outer membranes isolated from mitochondria of the fungus Neurospora crassa may bear periodic arrays of stain-accumulating subunits, which were later identified as the voltage-dependent anion-selective channel, VDAC (Mannella, 1982). In the ensuing years, considerable progress has been made both in controlling the crystallization process and in characterizing the structure of the arrays. The aim of the present report is to summarize information about the structure of the VDAC channel that has been obtained from high-resolution electron microscopy and image analysis of these two-dimensional (2D) crystals.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Akiba T, Yoshimura H, Namba K (1991) Monolayer crystallization of flagellar L-P rings by sequential addition and depletion of lipid. Science 252: 15444546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blachly-Dyson E, Peng S Z, Colombini M, Forte M (1990) Selectivity changes in site-directed mutants of the VDAC ion channel: structural implications. Science 247: 1233–1236

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bowen K A, Tarn K, Colombini M (1985) Evidence for titratable gating charges controlling the voltage dependence of the outer mitochondrial membrane channel, VDAC. J Membr Biol 86: 51–59

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cox J A, Conte M, Fitton J E, DeGrado W F (1985) The interaction of calmodulin with amphiphilic peptides. J Biol Chem 260: 2527–2534

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Deisenhofer J, Epp O, Miki K, Huber R, Michel H (1984) X-ray structure analysis of a membrane protein complex. Electron density map at 3A resolution and a model of the chromophores of the photosynthetic reaction center from Rhodopseudomonas viridis. J Mol Biol 180: 385–398

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Forte M, Guy H R, Mannella C A (1987) Molecular genetics of the VDAC ion channel: structural model and sequence analysis. J Bioenerg Bio-membr 19: 341–350

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guo X W, Mannella C A (1992) Classification of projection images of crystalline arrays of the mitochondrial channel, VDAC, embedded in aurothioglucose. Biophys J 63, 418–427

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guo X W, Smith P R, Radermacher M, Mannella C A (1992) Structure of crystalline VDAC, the voltage-gated channel in the mitochondrial outer membrane. In: Proc. 50th Annual Meeting of the Electron Microscopy Society of America. Bailey G W, Bentley J, Small J A (eds) San Francisco Press, Inc. San Francisco, p. 440–441

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson R, Baldwin J M, Ceska T A, Zemlin F, Beckmann E, Downing K H (1990) Model for the structure of bacteriorhodopsin based on high-resolution electron cryo-microscopy. J Mol Biol 213: 899–929

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jap B K, Walian P J, Gehring K (1991) Structural architecture of an outer membrane channel as determinined by electron crystallography. Nature 350: 167–170

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jordi W, De Kruijff B, Marsh D (1989) Specificity of the interaction of amino-and carboxy-terminal fragments of the mitochondrial precursor protein apocytochrome c with negatively charged phospholipids. A spin-label electron spin resonance study. Biochemistry 28: 8998–9005

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kleene R, Pfanner N, Pfaller R, Link T, Sebald W, Neupert W, Tropschug M (1987) Mitochondrial porin of Neurospora crassa: cDNA cloning, in vitro expression and import into mitochondria. EMBO J 6: 2627–2633

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mannella C A (1982) Structure of the outer mitochondrial membrane: ordered arrays of porelike subunits in outer-membrane fractions from Neurospora crassa mitochondria. J Cell Biol 94: 680–687

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mannella C A (1984) Phospholipase-induced crystallization of channels in mitochondrial outer membranes. Science 224: 165–166

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mannella C A (1992a) The ins and outs of mitochondrial membrane channels. Trends Biochem Sci, 17: 315–320

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mannella C A (1992b) Model for a gated mitochondrial channel based on electron microscopy of 2D crystal polymorphs. Trans Am Crystal Assn, in press

    Google Scholar 

  • Mannella C A, Bonner W D, Jr. (1975) X-ray diffraction from oriented outer mitochondrial membranes: Detection of in-plane subunit structure. Biochim Biophys Acta 413: 226–233

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mannella C A, Guo X W (1990) Interaction between the VDAC channel and a polyanionic effector. An electron microscopic study. Biophys J 57: 23–31

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mannella C A, Guo X W, Cognon B (1989) Diameter of the mitochondrial outer membrane channel: evidence from electron microscopy of frozen-hydrated membrane crystals. FEBS Lett 253: 231–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mannella C A, Guo X W, Dias J (1992a) Binding of a synthetic targeting peptide to a mitochondrial channel protein. J Bioenerg Biomembr 24: 55–61

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mannella C A, Ribeiro A, Frank J (1986) Structure of the channels in the outer mitochondrial membrane. Biophys J 49: 307–318

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mannella C A, Stanley S, D’Arcangelis D, Dias J A (1992b) Location of the N-terminal region of the channel protein, VDAC, in the outer membrane of Neurospora mitochondria. Biophys J 61: A14

    Google Scholar 

  • Massalski A, Sass H J, Zemlin F, Beckmann E, van Heel M, Buldt G, Dorset D L, Zeitler E, Rosenbusch J P (1987) High-resolution, low-dose electron cryomicroscopy of negatively stained matrix porin, a transmembrane protein from Escherichia coli outer membranes. In: Proc. 45th Annual Meeting of the Electron Microscopy Society of America. Bailey G W (ed) San Francisco Press, Inc. San Francisco, p. 788–789

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohraz M, Yee M, Smith P R (1985) Novel crystalline sheets of Na, K-ATPase induced by phospholipase A2. J Ultrastruct Res 93: 17–26

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roise D, Horvath S J, Tomich J M, Richards J H, Schatz G (1986) A chemically synthesized pre-sequence of an imported mitochondrial protein can form an amphiphilic helix and perturb natural and artificial phospholipid bilayers. EMBO J 5: 1327–1334

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tamm L K (1991) Membrane insertion and lateral mobility of synthetic amphiphilic signal peptides in lipid model membranes. Biochim Biophys Acta 1071: 123–148

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas L, Kocsis E, Colombini M, Erbe E, Trus B L, Steven A C (1991) Surface topography and molecular stoichiometry of the mitochondrial channel, VDAC, in crystalline arrays. J Struct Biol 106: 161–171

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weiss M S, Kreusch A, Schiltz E, Nestel U, Weite W, Weckesser J, Schulz G E (1991) The structure of porin from Rhodobacter capsulata at 1.8 A resolution. FEBS Lett 280: 379–382

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Mannella, C.A. (1994). Insights Into the Structure of the Mitochondrial Channel, VDAC, Provided by Electron Microscopy. In: Forte, M., Colombini, M. (eds) Molecular Biology of Mitochondrial Transport Systems. NATO ASI Series, vol 83. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78936-6_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78936-6_18

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-78938-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-78936-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics